SA’s underground music scene grabs the spotlight

by | May 22, 2024 | Lifestyle

The local punk, rock, and metal scenes are bursting with talent, and international artists are beginning to take notice.

The suburb of Melville in Johannesburg is always buzzing and lively on weekends, drawing crowds from all corners of the city. On Friday, May 17, 2024, Melville was overtaken by punks and metalheads in crust pants and spikes, all coming to see the coolest show of the weekend, headlined by Matrak Attakk.

Matrak Attakk is a self-described ‘anarcha-feminist crust band’ (translation: really cool), hailing from Europe, but they fit right in at Smoking Kills, a beloved dive bar that sits at the heart of the local underground music scene. For as long as the bar has been open, it has been hosting up-and-coming bands of the hardcore sort, giving them a space to be creative and an enthusiastic audience to perform for.

Matrak Attakk were joined on the lineup by some of the best bands the scene has to offer currently. Lefokolodi was one of these acts, and for good reason; they are a spectacular quartet and seeing them perform is a fully physical experience. Lefokolodi brings a crowd of strangers together instantly, screaming and moshing with such vibrant energy that the room overflows with it. Their lead vocalist, Lerato, oozes showmanship and flair with his breakdancing and crowd surfing; seeing them perform their latest single, “Disillusioned,” was a highlight of the night.

  • The crowd watching Lefokolodi.
  • Lerato performing for the audience.
  • The crowd at Smoking Kills on May 17, 2024.

If you’re not a fan of politics, then punk isn’t the genre for you, but on the day, likeminded individuals got to share their thoughts in a space that actively champions community and solidarity. Bands like Mean Girls embody this; they have given the profits from merch sales to solidarity organisations, played shows celebrating youth day in South Africa, and written songs about anti-imperialism and feminism. Their popularity in the scene shows how much their message resonates with young people, but also stems from their musical finesse and talent.

Matrak Attakk took to the stage just past midnight and were easily the loudest band of the night. Their lead vocalist, Cristina, has a ferocious and intimidating scream, but her speaking voice between songs was soft and kind. She profusely thanked the audience for being so receptive, and said the South African scene has a lot to teach the European punk community. Being able to tackle subjects like racism, imperialism and colonization is all part of this specific music scene, and South African punks do it phenomenally, she said.

Matrak Attakk headed up to Pretoria on Saturday evening to perform and came back down to Soweto for a show on Sunday. On the weekend of May 24 and 25, 2024, they will be performing in Cape Town and Stellenbosch. This tour shows just how widespread the love for punk is here, and just how eager international acts are to explore every corner of our burgeoning little scene. Though the underground scene is far from being a profitable giant like other South African music genres, it is fierce, raw, and real.

FEATURED IMAGE: Lead vocalist of Matrak Attakk, Cristina, performs at Smoking Kills. Photo: Ruby Delahunt

RELATED ARTICLES:

Playing Brave rock the stage

by | Mar 10, 2015 | Featured 1

PB3

ROCKING OUT: Witsies (from left) Tish Singh, Stevan Johnson, Luke van Aardt and Ryan Deacon showcase their musical talents. Photo: Ilanit Chernick

New band on the Wits block, Playing Brave are not just your average boozing brood. Only six months old, their love for music shows in the way they speak, sing and act.

All Wits students, the band, which is an indie-garage rock genre, came together after meeting at a party where two of the members, Tish Singh and Stevan Johnson had already started playing acoustic music together a few weeks before.

Through Singh they met their bassist, Luke van Aardt and his “good mate”, drummer Ryan Deacon (who I must mention, is of Irish decent).

“Ryan is probably the best guitarist, drummer … you name it of the band!” said lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Johnson, “Ryan actually started out as a guitarist until we realised we needed a drummer.”

“And I was like ‘Hey, I can play drums too’ and that was it,” Deacon said.

Their music is inspired by art, contemporary cinema “especially films like Whiplash”, happy times and “of course break-ups”.

“We’re also inspired by other musicians, especially Josh Homme. He’s a phenomenal musician!” said Van Aardt

Playing Brave toured in Durban for a week recently and has also played at Cool Runnings, Smugglers and the Living Room in Maboneng.

The band’s favourite food is “Ryan’s moms’ spaghetti bolognaise”.

The band hopes to eventually make it to the Oppikoppi music festival because it’s one of the “best local rock festivals”.

“It’s the best place to be as a musician,” Johnson said. “We also hope to get an album out soon as well.”

Deacon told Wits Vuvuzela that conflict and rivalry within the band is kept to the bare minimum.

“If we have an issue with someone in the band, we hash it out there and then,” he said.

“Ja, we don’t let it build up. We’re all mates!” said Singh.

To chill out the band enjoy partying together, square-mosh dancing and rocking out to music which is what keeps them motivated.

“We just do things that remind us of why we are doing this, I love it,” said Singh.

The band’s favourite food is “Ryan’s moms’ spaghetti bolognaise” and when asked about what one would find in their garage fridge where they practice, Johnson joked, “lots of Baileys and Beer”.

The band wants to appeal to “young, fun and alternative” audiences who are willing to “dance their asses off”.

“Truth be told, none of us really want to be studying, if we could really make it as musicians we’d make that our full-time career,” Johnson said.

The bands next gig will be on March 20 at Sundowners.

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 268435456 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 33568376 bytes) in /usr/www/users/witsvttajr/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php on line 1843